Draft:Cleeng
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Comment: interviews, Linkedin and YouTube are not independent sources. Theroadislong (talk) 14:08, 2 December 2025 (UTC)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | SaaS, Media technology |
| Founded | 2011; 14 years ago |
| Founders | Gilles Domartini Benedicte Guichard Donald Res Mateusz Tymek |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Gilles Domartini (CEO) Benedicte Guichard (CMO) Donald Res (CSO) Mateusz Tymek (CTO) |
| Products | Subscriber Retention Management (SRM) Core Merchant ChurnIQ Hi5 |
| Services | Subscription management Subscriber management Subscription analytics Merchant of Record Tax and compliance handling Subscriber analytics Churn prediction Customer support |
| Revenue | €20 million (2024) |
| Website | cleeng |
Cleeng is a Dutch software company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, that specializes in Subscriber Retention Management (SRM) for the digital subscription services industry. The company provides a platform for creators, brands, broadcasters, and Over-the-Top (OTT) media services to manage subscriptions, billing, customer support, and customer retention. Founded in 2011, the company is managed by its original founders.
History
[edit]Cleeng was founded in 2011 by former Philips colleagues Gilles Domartini and Donald Res. At the time, Domartini served as the Vice President and General Manager Online, while Res was the Manager of Online Shops. They were later joined by Benedicte Guichard and Mateusz Tymek as co-founders.
Early years (2011–2017)
[edit]Founded and headquartered in Amsterdam in 2011, the company opened a second office in Poznań, Poland, later that same year, dedicated to research and development.
The company originally launched with a micropayment model for digital content. The name "Cleeng" was chosen as an onomatopoeia resembling the sound of a coin dropping into a vending machine, reflecting the founders' initial focus on providing "instant access" to content via small transactions.[1]
According to CEO Gilles Domartini, the original vision was to replicate the "key functionalities" of iTunes as a white-label platform, allowing publishers to manage both single transactions and recurring subscriptions.[2]
As the media industry shifted toward recurring revenue models, Cleeng pivoted its focus to a full Subscriber Retention Management (SRM) suite. During this period, the company expanded its presence in the sports sector by managing Pay-Per-View (PPV) infrastructure for live events. Notably, Cleeng powered the streaming broadcast of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor fight in 2017 for viewers in Australia.[3]
Expansion and restructuring (2018–Present)
[edit]In 2018, Cleeng raised €5 million in a Series B funding round led by Dutch venture capital firm Walvis[4], with participation from C4 Ventures[5]. The capital was used to fund product development.
In early 2025, the company underwent a significant operational restructuring following the conclusion of its contract with the National Football League (NFL), which had been a major client. In response to the revenue loss and a contraction in the wider media tech market, the company reduced its workforce by approximately 25%. Despite the reduction in headcount, the company reported year-over-year business growth of 35% for Q2 2025.[6]
Platform and services
[edit]The company's software is categorized as a Subscriber Retention Management (SRM) suite. Cleeng’s architecture is designed for the digital subscription and streaming industry. The platform consists of four main components:[2]
- Core: a management system handling entitlement structures, subscriptions, including seasonal packages, one-off pay-per-view events, and promotional coupons.
- Merchant: a tax and billing compliance module that handles international recurring transactions, operating as a Merchant of Record.
- ChurnIQ: a data lake that aggregates information on logins, payments, and entitlements to predict and mitigate customer churn.
- Hi5: a customer care module that includes AI-based chatbot capabilities to resolve viewer issues.
Integrations and ecosystem
[edit]As a middleware solution, Cleeng functions as an overlay on top of existing video infrastructure.
- Video and streaming platforms (OVPs): Cleeng integrates with major Online Video Platforms to gate content behind paywalls. Verified integrations include JW Player, Alpha Networks[7][8], White Peaks Solutions, and Accedo.
- Billing and payments: While the company acts as the "Merchant of Record" for many clients, it processes transactions through external payment gateways. In 2025, the company expanded its payment capabilities through integrations with Primer[9][10] and dLocal[11] to support emerging market payment methods (such as PIX in Brazil), adding to existing support for Adyen[12] and PayPal.
- Data and marketing: The platform synchronizes subscriber data with CRM and marketing automation tools such as Salesforce and Mailchimp.
Operations
[edit]Headquartered in Amsterdam, Cleeng operates as a remote-first company, while maintaining regional offices in Poznań (Poland), and Manila (Philippines).
Customers
[edit]The company primarily services the sports broadcasting and entertainment sectors. Its technology powered the subscription management infrastructure for NFL+, the National Football League's direct-to-consumer streaming service, until the conclusion of the contract in 2025. During this partnership, Cleeng managed subscriber support operations for the service during the Super Bowl for two consecutive years.[13]
In 2025, the digital football platform OneFootball partnered with Cleeng to manage subscriptions for its European Leagues+ streaming channel.[14] [15]
Other major enterprise clients include Sinclair Broadcast Group (specifically for the Tennis Channel[16]), the Volleyball World's VBTV[17], Newsmax[18], beIN's TOD[19], and the Big Ten Network.[20]
Financials
[edit]According to a 2025 report by streaming industry analyst Dan Rayburn, Cleeng ended the 2024 fiscal year with €20 million in revenue and a 7% EBITDA margin, representing a growth from €5 million in revenue in 2021. As of that report, the company had approximately 140 employees and noted that 65% of its revenue originated from the United States market.[21]
External links
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "C4 Founders Interview: Cleeng". Medium. C4 Ventures. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ a b Baumgartner, Jeff (2024-11-22). "How Cleeng is keeping streaming subscription churn in check". Light Reading.
- ^ "Cleeng supports Mayweather vs McGregor PPV in Australia". Advanced Television. 2017-08-25.
- ^ "IMPROVED advises Cleeng on its Growth Financing from Walvis Participaties". Improved CF. 2018-06-26.
- ^ "C4 Founders Interview: Cleeng". Medium. C4 Ventures. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ Domartini, Gilles (2025-11-28). "Reflecting on 9 months of relentless transformation". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ "Alpha partners Cleeng to offer Le Tigre Yoga a flexible D2C tool". ABC News. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ "Alpha Networks named global reseller for Cleeng Pro, signs first joint customer". Broadband TV News. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ^ "Cleeng teams up with Primer to optimise subscription payments for D2C". The Paypers. 2025-04-09.
- ^ "Ep. 64: Cleeng & Primer - A Partnership for Frictionless Payment Experience in Subscription Services". Retetion Zone. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ "dLocal partners with Cleeng to roll out local payment solutions". The Paypers. 2025-08-29.
- ^ "Adyen and Cleeng Partner on Subscriber Retention Management in UAE". PYMNTS. 2024-03-26.
- ^ Domartini, Gilles (2025-11-28). "Reflecting on 9 months of relentless transformation". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ "Retention Zone Live 2025: Yannick Ramcke - OneFootball: from publisher to multi-product ecosystem". Retention Zone Live. 2025-09-19.
- ^ "Cleeng teams up with OneFootball". Advanced Television. 2025-09-03.
- ^ "Tennis Channel Enlists Cleeng to Strengthen Its Digital Offering". Streaming Media. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ "Who is Cleeng?". Volleyball World VBTV. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ "Newsmax is speeding towards the ultimate prize – the top spot in cable news – thanks to resilient, innovative technology". The Boss Magazine. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ "Retention Zone Live 2025: John-Paul McKerlie beIN Media/TOD: Navigating global D2C: MENA monetization". YouTube, Cleeng. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ "Who handles the subscription and payment processing for B1G+?". Big Ten Plus Support. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ Rayburn, Dan (2025-09-23). "Cleeng Revenue Growth and Profitability". StreamingMediaBlog.